BBC Press & Publicity

News Release

British Broadcasting Corporation BBC Radio 4 Publicity Broadcasting House London W1A 1AA

The BBC National Short Story Award 2008

The BBC National Short Story Award today launches its third year, and announces headline sponsorship from the BBC, one of the award’s founding partners on its launch in 2005. The annual award, known in previous years as the National Short Story Prize, is one of the world’s most prestigious for a single short story with the winning author receiving £15,000, the runner up £3,000 and three further authors £500 each.

Broadcaster Martha Kearney will chair the panel of judges for 2008, which also includes Alexander Linklater, one of the award’s founders (Prospect Magazine), Booker Prize winner Penelope Lively and Di Speirs (BBC Radio 4). The shortlist will be announced in June 2008, with the five stories broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each weekday before the winner is announced.

Aimed at highlighting the importance of the short story after many years of neglect, the award stands at the heart of a UK-wide campaign — story — that also launched alongside the award in 2005. The ambition of both award and campaign is to expand opportunities for British writers, readers and publishers of the short story. The award aims to honour the country’s finest authors in the form, with James Lasdun securing the inaugural year with “An Anxious Man” and Julian Gough winning in 2007 with “The Orphan and the Mob”. Other authors shortlisted in previous years have included Jackie Kay, Hanif Kureishi, Rose Tremain and William Trevor.

BBC Radio 4 is the world’s leading broadcaster of short stories and a staunch supporter of the form; showcasing a story on air every weekday. The BBC hopes that the award can continue to serve as a reminder of the power of the short story in a literary environment dominated by the novel.

Mark Damazer, Radio 4 Controller, said:

The BBC Short Story Award on Radio 4 allows us to showcase the very best of short story writing in the UK. Over the last couple of years we have had two wonderful weeks of programmes, linked to the prize, devoted to this precious literary form. As in those years we will again be running the shortlisted work at 30 minutes length - and expect to have a glittering treat for R4 listeners.

Alexander Linklater, founder of the award, said:

Last year's winner, Julian Gough, said that winning the prize had saved his writing life. Now the prize has been subtly renamed as an “award", emphasising that this is not a game of competing entries, so much as national recognition for our finest new stories. The award can't itself revive the British story, but it will guide the spotlight onto the writers who can. ENDS For further information on the award, please contact: Benjamin Ward/Katie McCrory at Brunswick Arts on 020 7936 1291, [email protected], [email protected] For further information on the BBC, please contact: Tim English at BBC Radio 4 Publicity, on 020 7765 3210, [email protected] www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 www.theshortstory.org.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS:

 The BBC National Short Story Award is funded by the BBC, and is administered in partnership with the Booktrust and Scottish Book Trust. It was formerly known as the National Short Story Prize.

 The award is open to authors with a previous record of publication who are UK nationals or residents, aged 18 years or over only. Entries may be stories published during 2007 – or previously unpublished. The story must not be more than 8000 words. Entrants must submit original work that does not infringe the copyright or any other rights of any third party. Entrants must have a prior record of publication. Entries are limited to stories written in English and only one will be accepted per author. The story entered must either be unpublished or if published then first and only publication must have between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2007. For full details, entry criteria and an entry form see bbc.co.uk/radio4 or send a stamped addressed envelope to The BBC National Short Story Award, Room 316 BBC Henry Wood House, 3 & 6 Langham Place, London W1A 1AA.

 The panel will select a shortlist to be announced in June 2008. The shortlisted stories will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 to precede the final announcement of the award winner and runners up.

 For information on story, the national campaign to celebrate the short story, please visit www.theshortstory.org.uk. This site includes interviews with writers, agents and publishers, events, competitions and projects listings and features, tips for writers and readers and a selection of classic and contemporary short stories.

 BBC RADIO 4 is the world’s biggest single commissioner of short stories. There is a story broadcast every weekday, with over a million listeners tuning in each week. 40 per cent of Radio 4’s short stories are special commissions, mainly from leading authors and at least 35 per cent are from already published material – contemporary and classic – and include stories broadcast to coincide with publication. Unsolicited stories and those not published by mainstream publishers make up at least a further 25 per cent of output. www.bbc.co.uk/radio4

 Booktrust and the Scottish Book Trust exist to bring books and people together. The story campaign is their first major collaboration. Booktrust is an independent national charity, working to encourage people of all ages and cultures to discover and enjoy reading. Booktrust's family of websites provides information about books for adults and children, as well as news about the book world. Booktrust also administers a number of prizes and projects, and runs the Bookstart “books for babies” scheme. The Scottish Book Trust is Scotland’s national agency for readers and writers. It aims to create a confident, cultured and articulate nation through engagement with literature in all its forms by providing key services to readers, writers and the education sector. See www.booktrust.org.uk and www.scottishbooktrust.com for more information.